Michael Page’s venture up to middleweight at UFC Saudi Arabia was so successful that he’s now considering even bigger jumps in weight.
Page, 37, has been a career-long welterweight, having fought at middleweight just once prior to this past Saturday — and that was all the way back in 2013. But he moved up to 185 pounds for the first time in his UFC tenure for his Saudi Arabia clash with Shara Magomedov, winning a unanimous decision victory.
The goal for “Venom” has long been a 170-pound title. But he now says he’s open to showing off his skills at any weight, even if that means packing on 30 more pounds.
When asked Monday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” if he is serious about potentially fighting at light heavyweight, “MVP” took those sentiments one notch further.
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“I can definitely see myself doing a fight up again,” Page said. “When I’m fighting guys that like to strike, I’ll fight up to heavyweight. It doesn’t faze me because it’s striking. As much as these guys have got power, they have to land something for it to be effective. You see how much I frustrate people. You see how many talented strikers come up clueless with no answers when it comes to their favorite space when I’m standing in front of them.
“I can do that at any weight, you know what I mean? So, 100%, if the fight is exciting enough and it matches well, then 100% I could go up.”
Stylistically, there are a handful of intriguing matchups for Page in every division. While Page expressed an openness to considering just about all of them, he drew the line at calling out UFC light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira.
“That guy’s dangerous, I’m staying away from him,” he said with a laugh.
“[Jiří Procházka] was more an example of what a fun [205-pound] fight would look like. I’ve actually trained with him before. He was down at our gym a lot, helping out Karlos Vemola at the time. We got to spar quite regularly as well. So yeah, I can understand his style, he understands my style. Again, we had some great [spars], so that would be an exciting fight. Can’t think of anybody else, but anybody else with that kind of crazy style that wants to stand there and strike, then yeah, 100% I’m ready.”
When the matchup with Magomedov was announced, many expected it to be a striker’s delight. Instead, it was largely a display of Page’s striking experience and distance management expertise. Magomedov had no answers for his opponent’s speed and long-range attacks.
Following the bout, Magomedov wrote on Instagram that he entered UFC Saudi Arabia with a “nightmarish health condition.” Since then, there have been no official diagnoses regarding potential Magomedov injuries or physical concerns, and Page isn’t necessarily buying into the claims.
The loss was Magomedov’s first of his 16-fight career, therefore Page believes it will be a learning experience for the Dagestani prospect.
“He looked a bit off in his weight cut,” Page acknowledged. “One of my teammates was saying the same thing, like he doesn’t look right, but I felt like he maybe just didn’t do his cut properly, which I’ve seen many fighters do, in terms of how stressful that can be. So that was the only time I kind of felt like maybe there’s something off with him, but it didn’t seem like it did him any damage the next day.
“But for me, if I was to give him any advice moving forward, just regardless of [what’s going on], if you accept the fight knowing that you have had anything [wrong with you] prior to the fight, then the result is the result. If you win, you can say what you want. But if you lose, just keep it to yourself. I think it just looks [bad]. Maybe later on down the line, you can kind of say, ‘I had a few issues,’ but directly afterward, it just comes across as — he could be completely factual, but it just comes across wrong. It comes across as an excuse, but that’s all I’ll say, that would be my only advice for him.”
Page is now 2-1 (23-3 overall) in his UFC career after rising to prominence under the Bellator banner for the bulk of his MMA run. The comfort of the Octagon is still settling in for Page as he nears the one-year mark of his UFC tenure in March 2025. Although he’s strayed from his prior path as a 170-pound highlight machine, his plan to capture gold is still intact — even if another opportunity arises in a higher weight class.
“It seems like a lot of people are happy for me to stay there [at middleweight or heavier],” Page said, “so the UFC might entice me some more good-looking fights. But in terms of what I would like — yes, I would like to continue with the [welterweight] rankings, to kind of push for the belt at 170 [pounds].”
